Our establishment, while promoting reuse to divert building materials from landfills, is in a dilemma about dealing with building materials with lead-paint hazards in a manner that is both environmentally responsible and promotes public health. Wisconsin Statutes do not offer alternatives to putting such materials in landfills.
Wisconsin Statutes Chapter 254.12: Use or sale of lead-bearing paints. (1) No person may apply lead-bearing paints: (a) To any exposed surface on the inside of a dwelling; (b) To the exposed surface of a structure used for the care of children; or (c) To any fixture or other object placed in or upon any exposed surface of a dwelling and ordinarily accessible to children.
(2) No person may sell or transfer any fixture or other object intended to be placed upon any surface on the inside of a dwelling, containing a lead-bearing paint and ordinarily accessible to children.
The consequence of this law is that all items with paint or other coatings produced before 1978 are presumed to present lead hazards unless tested to prove otherwise. Thus, hundreds of tons of otherwise useful items must be land filled(the act of throwing this material in the landfill in fact does promote lead exposure which this statute claims to prevent). In reality the only mechanism for enforcing this statute is through private lawsuits following poisonings. There is no effective means of communicating with the public or relevant businesses about the requirements of the law. As a consequence, many organizations that deal in architectural salvage or in sale of used furniture are unaware of the law.
Madison, Wisconsin, is fortunate to have the expertise to identify alternatives to landfills that allow reuse of materials/objects with lead-based coatings as well as address concerns about lead poisoning; our establishment is in a strong position to convene a problem-solving coalition to resolve this dilemma. The resolution could serve as a national model and other businesses promoting reuse of building materials.
This project will explore options both in reducing construction materials in landfills while promoting affordable housing and in addressing public health concerns about the reuse of materials coated with lead-based paint or varnish. While federal law requires sellers of pre-1978 dwellings to warn purchasers that these dwellings may contain lead paint, it does not forbid the sale of dwellings that contain lead paint or lead paint hazards. So, for example, if a door from such a house contains lead, it can be sold with the house, provided that the purchaser is warned that the property may contain lead. However, under Wisconsin state law, if that door were removed from the door frame, it could not legally be sold in Wisconsin and placed in an area accessible to children, but would need to be put in a landfill. (Wisconsin Statutes Chapter 254, Environmental Health, is provided in Appendix A. See 254.12 above.)
In the proposed project, we will assemble as partners a person who performs tests for lead content on materials, a problem-solving facilitator who is also a housing specialist in the University of Wisconsin Extension, a person from a nonprofit agency that provides waste reduction and recycling assistance for businesses, public health professionals from a state agency focused on lead poisoning prevention and regulation in toxic substance control, and the county official responsible for landfill management.